As the business world continues to move at an ever-accelerating pace, and working across international time zones becomes more the norm than the exception, companies have realized that to stay competitive, decisions need to be made quicker and information needs to be dissipated faster than ever before. Everyone from the CEO to the mid-level manager and the line employee has incorporated conference calls in their daily routine, creating a multi-billion dollar market.

The APEX Conferencing System (ACS), based on the industry leading APEX Service Delivery Platform (APEX SDP) and the OmniVox3D Application Server, is a complete conferencing platform that seamlessly integrates with existing IP, TDM, Mobile and converged networks, delivers superior quality and eliminates the need for costly operator administration.

Robust enough to offer carrier-grade conferencing services, yet simple enough to implement revenue-generating conferencing services quickly, ACS offers a comprehensive set of features for the latest in both Audio and Video Conferencing (CIF, VGA, and 720p with H.264). Service Providers reselling conferencing services can easily brand the web interface of ACS to build solid customer loyalty.

Conference Hosts can setup Permanent, Instant and Scheduled Conferences, as well as Lecture Mode Conferences, where only one participant can speak and all other participants can only listen. Some of the enhanced conferencing features of ACS include:

• Web-Based Reservation System – schedule, manage and provision with e-mail, phone and SMS notification
• Controlled Call-In Times – control how early participants can enter
• Enforced End-Times – enforce end-time and inform (Whisper Message) without terminating
• Whisper Messages – play audio message when participant enters and allotted time is about to expire
• Listen-Only Mode – enter as listen-only without tying up conferencing resources
• Participant List – hear a list of participants at any time
• Recording – record complete conference for archival, legal or other requirements
• Reports – generate customized and detailed reports for system resource usage

The APEX Conferencing System’s web-based reservation system is simple to use. Once reservations are made, notification of conferences can be sent via email, telephone call or SMS. File attachments are easily added to email notification, and conferences can be configured to have controlled call in times, controlled end times, roll call, whisper messages and listen only participants. Conferences can also be recorded for future playback.

For larger configurations, and depending on capacity and network requirements, the APEX SDP can provide conferencing services through multiple media servers, with its OmniVox3D Application Server, across local or distributed networks, using the latest SIP and Markup Language technology. For smaller configurations, ACS can be configured as a single APEX SDP with an integrated media server, for a single platform solution.